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On January 1st, the Network Enforcement Act, a regulatory bill for social media platforms in Germany, was officially implemented. According to the bill, social networking platforms that fail to handle illegal content such as false news and hate speech properly will be fined up to 50 million euros. Since 2015, Germany’s crackdown on online illegal speech has been continuously strengthened, from investigating criminal responsibility of illegal individuals to poor supervision of punishment platforms; The fine has also risen from hundreds of euros in the past to a maximum of 50 million euros now. According to the analysis, as problems such as refugees and illegal immigrants continue to tear German society apart, the German government’s regulatory policy on online speech may be further tightened in the future.
"Social networks have not fulfilled their obligations well, and we must exert more pressure."
After nearly three years of discussion, drafting and final approval, the German Network Enforcement Law came into full force on January 1, 2018. The bill aims at "hate, inflammatory speech and false news content" on the Internet, integrates and revises a series of relevant decrees issued by the German Ministry of Justice since 2015, and puts forward strict regulatory requirements for social networking platforms that provide content services in Germany.
The Network Enforcement Law stipulates that social networking platforms must introduce more detailed online reporting forms for users; Illegal content and its copies must be deleted within 7 days, and obvious illegal remarks must be deleted or blocked within 24 hours after being reported; The contents of controversial remarks must also be dealt with within 7 days after reporting; Need to designate a person responsible for handling user complaints; Quarterly reports on cracking down on illegal speech must be submitted.
In addition, the German Ministry of Justice will also launch an online form for netizens to complain about the poor handling of reported online illegal speech. After receiving relevant complaints, the German Ministry of Justice will judge whether the social networking platform has its own management defects, and may impose a fine of up to 50 million euros for the platform’s failure to crack down on illegal speech. The German Ministry of Justice stressed that the deletion of illegal content on social networking platforms is based on "self-censorship", and the Ministry of Justice will not personally participate in deleting or blocking illegal speech.
In fact, Germany has a reputation of being "strict" in network supervision, and relevant provisions can be found in laws and regulations such as the Criminal Code, the Civil Code, the Law on Freedom of Information, the Law on Public Order, the Law on Freedom of Information and Communication Services. Those who seriously spread rumors and slander others need to bear criminal responsibility. However, with the outbreak of the European refugee crisis in the late summer of 2015, some criminal incidents of refugees have rapidly fermented on social networks, and hundreds of thousands of netizens have publicly published xenophobic remarks on social networks, which are getting worse.
According to data released by the German Ministry of Justice, until the first quarter of 2017, the progress of social networks in dealing with illegal content was still slow. Twitter only deleted 1% of illegal content reported by users, and Facebook deleted 39%. In this regard, German Minister of Justice Maas said: "Unfortunately, social networks have not fulfilled their obligations well, and we must exert more pressure."
"The Internet is not a place of extra-legality". At Mas’s appeal, the Ministry of Justice set up a working group to invite representatives of social networking platforms, experts and members of non-governmental organizations to join. Since 2015, various regulations have been issued to combat illegal information such as xenophobia and falsehood on the Internet, and in April 2017, the Network Enforcement Law was promoted.
As the key observation objects that have been interviewed by the German Ministry of Justice for many times, social networking sites Facebook and Twitter have launched an upgraded version of the "24-hour online reporting mechanism". Taking Facebook as an example, users must enter their real names in the first step and upload content, links and screenshots that violate the social networking community guidelines. Step 2, users need to check all relevant items in the list of illegal content "involving hate, inflammatory remarks, insults, slanders, threats, false information, terrorist crimes and child pornography" defined according to the Network Enforcement Law; Finally, the user must make a promise of good faith and submit an electronic signature. After the report was submitted, the third-party fact-checking agency hired by Facebook then started a quick investigation.
"It provides a strong legal basis for putting an end to cyber violence and purifying the content of social networks."
On the first day when the Law on Network Enforcement came into effect, Von Shtorkh, vice-chairman of the Bundestag, the German election party, was shut down by Twitter, a social networking platform, because of "hate and xenophobia", and I was even prosecuted for allegedly "inciting people".
Shtorkh posted a tweet expressing anger at the Cologne police’s use of many languages, including Arabic, on the official website. Once the news was sent out, Twitter blocked the tweet with suspected hate content, leaving it in an unreadable state, and Shtorkh’s own Twitter account was temporarily blocked for 12 hours. Shtorkh himself was soon investigated and prosecuted by Cologne police and prosecutors for allegedly inciting riots.
German public opinion believes that despite the controversy, the Law on Network Enforcement provides a strong legal basis for putting an end to cyber violence and purifying the content of social networks. Malvin Stet lattmann, a journalist in the German digital information industry, wrote in the German newspaper Sü ddeutsche Zeitung that hate speech and false news are hidden in the depths of social networks and become a real threat to society. He said that in today’s social networks, everyone can upload subjective "facts" to insult and intimidate others. Those who become the target of public criticism cannot defend themselves; However, platform operators often deal with user complaints slowly or even do nothing. Over time, social networks are full of all kinds of inflammatory remarks and false news generated by gaining eyeballs. Lattmann believes that in order for large social networks to take responsibility for users, it is necessary to clarify their obligations in law.
It is reported that the "Network Enforcement Law" was obviously supported by the German Federal Party (CDU and CSU) and the Social Democratic Party during the approval process, and now the two parties are negotiating to form a new German government. Therefore, according to media analysis, the Law on Network Enforcement can take effect as scheduled, which reflects the high degree of consistency between the two parties in strictly controlling online speech, that is, they hope to delete and block illegal online speech faster. As the refugee issue has become the main trigger to tear German society apart, once the "grand coalition" government between the two parties is formed successfully, the new government’s regulatory policy on online speech may be further tightened.
(Berlin, January 3 rd, our reporter in Germany Feng Xuezhen)